Woods countered: "I like to think I have a good sense of humour, and that I'm more than willing to laugh at myself.

"Good-natured satire is one thing, but no fair-minded writer would put someone in the position of having to publicly deny that he mistreats his friends, takes pleasure in firing people and stiffs on tips - and a lot of other slurs, too."

Woods' agent Mark Steinberg, who was mentioned in the fake interview, has written to Golf Digest asking for an apology.

Q: Why haven't you fired Steiny (agent Mark Steinberg), by the way? You've fired everybody else...A: I'll probably get around to it. I like to fire people. It gives me something to do when I'm not shaping my shots.

Q: You haven't talked about it, but after all of those New York Post front pages during the scandal, what's the moral of your story?A: That's easy. Don't get caught.

Q: You named your yacht Privacy. Because you're a worldwide celebrity, do you really expect and demand privacy?A: I thought about renaming it Serenity, but that pretty much went out the door when the 9-iron hit the window of the Escalade.

Q: I don't get it. For a guy who can certainly afford it, you've become famous for being a bad tipper. It's almost like you take pride in it.A: I just don't understand why you're supposed to tip people for doing a job they're already getting paid to do.

Q: In many cases tips are expected to be part of their salary...?A: So let 'em go find a better job.